Medals awarded to a hero soldier who was part of the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade are going on show after they were “lost” for 40 years.

John Ashley Kilvert was treated by Florence Nightingale for wounds he sustained at the Battle of Balaclava, when the advancing Light Brigade was chopped down by a Russian artillery battery during the Crimean War.

Kilvert was said to have been wounded in his right leg by a musket ball and hit in the head by a sabre.

His wounded horse returned him to the British lines – but the animal was shot as soon as the soldier dismounted.

John Ashley Kilvert as a young soldier

Even then Kilvert’s life remained at risk as he was left in a ditch until nightfall and was found close to death by a medical party.

They were feared to have been lost forever until Sandwell Council was alerted to their location by Birmingham auction house Fellows.

The honours were put up for sale by Walsall widow Joyce Hands, having been innocently bought by her late husband Walter more than 20 years ago.

They were thought to have changed hands several times before he bought them in good faith.

John Ashley Kilvert as Mayor of Wednesbury

Mrs Hands agreed to hand them over to the council once the tangled tale had been explained to her.

Deputy leader Coun Mahboob Hussain said: “It was a wonderful gesture by Mrs Hands and we are delighted the medals are safely back in the council’s hands where they can be proudly displayed once again.”

On being discharged from the Army, Shropshire-born Kilvert settled in Coventry where he married and had a son, George.

But he moved to Wednesbury after his wife’s death and married again.

He lived in Union Street, opened a pawnbrokers business and held a number of public positions after being elected to the town council in 1886.

He later sold his business and moved to Pritchard Street – naming his new home ‘Balaclava House’ after the famous battle.